Dispenser for powdered coffee



March 26, 1935. B, GREEN 4 1,996,044

DISPENSER FOR POWDERED COFFEE Original Filed Feb. 25, 1932 2Sheets-Sheet 1 fnvenfor':

ZIQe B. Ghee/7 6 44 W Afiiorrzgy March 26; 1935. L. B. GREEN 1,996,044

' DISPENSER FOR POWDERED COFFEE Original File-:1 Feb. 23, 1932 2Sheets-Sheet 2 50 57 l /iZ 44 52 w v 59 71H 19 I25 51 44 Inventor:

Lee B. Gr ee Patented Mar. 26, 1935 p 1,996,044 DISPENSER FOR POWDERED'COFFEE.

Lee B. Green, Lakewood, Ohio, assignor 1 :o The Globe Machine. &Stamping Company, Cleveland',f0hio, a corporation ofOhi-o I e Refileofiapplication Serial No. 594,624,:February 23, I932. This applicationMarch 7, 1934,;Serial 7 Claims. *(01. 221- 106) I trance of air to avoida deteriorationof the ma'-- terial either by the oxygen of the air or bymois- ;turein the air. Y A v Many food ingredients are readilyaffecte'dby exposure. to air and consequently are packed in cansprovided with such tightly fitting coversithat the contents; of the cansare not altered so. long as the covers have not been removed. However,

with some materials, even the short time periods during which thecovermust be detached frame.

can for access to the material is sufiicient for permitting admitted airto influence the contents of thecan.

quantity of such. a material infla household term; such as a teaspoon inproportion to .a given quantity of a liquid or other material, theamount. .measuredcut by different usersvaries greatly. because ofcommercial variations in the sizes: of.

teaspoons and also because of the different'heights towhich the materialin the spoon. may'extenda above the level of its mouth edge.

O I 0 actually measured out quantity make quitea substantial differencein the tasteof the resulting;

w I rather loosely on the can, so as to avoid the use of requiring atool to pry it off again. In itsv general objects, my invention .aims toovercomeboth the deteriorating and the, irregular measuring of acomminuted product by providing.

an inexpensive, durableand easily manipulated I appliance for'dispensingthe material directly fremthe can without the use ofa spoon andwithoutdepending on the judgment of the user for the measured quantity, andWhich will effectively agitate the material so as to prevent anypossible Moreover, when a recipe callsjforameasuredv the dispenserduring theactuation of the And with a prepared product of such sensitivecaking or' lumping of the material from interfering with the accuracy ofthe measured quail tity. Furthermore, my invention aims toprovide adispenser which will permit almost thecntirecontents of the can tobedispensed withoutadf;

mitting air to the-mteriorof the can except dur ing the quiteshort timerequired-for attaching thepp ance to the can-after the cover hasinitially been pried .oiT. i

' To accomplish these' pu'rposesl I provide dispenser with thesefeatures:' V I (l) inlet designed for speedy attachmentto sealedreiaiu'on tothis can. I a y (2) A supplemental sealing'cover attached tothe inlet end of the dispenser for housing the can the mouth of the cancontaining the material, in

and enhancing the exclusion of air from the' can.

(3) A reciprocating dispensing member designed and arrangedforsegregating ahighly n'nifor m measuredquantity of the material ateach actuation of this member. 7 I

. (4:) A disposition of this dispensing mer'nberso that itsmeasuringpocketis momentarily scaledf from" both the inlet and thedischarge spout; of

pensing member, so asto preventair .from' pelss-p inggfrom the dischargespout throughthis pocketto the supply of material both-during thedispens 1 ing movement of that To food connoisseurs, such variations.inthe member and during its return movement; I

(5) Ajournaling of I i v ber which will permit an extremely closefitting:

. l3oa'rotatingjdispenser mem of. this member in parts adjacent to it,withoutv having that member bind or stick. I

(B) An agitator disposed within the starter;

and automatically moved during both the initial and the final portions,of--- each reciprocationof .1 the dispensing member, for insuringthefineness} I of thematerial inthe measuring. pocket.

(7) An. agitator also arranged for reaching? into-the can, so astoinsure a ready feeding. of the materialfrom the can.

(8) A sealing of the discharge: (or spout-)- end oi the dispenserwhenever thez dispensing'mem direction ,of the discharge of material.froin-fthe? measuring pocket, to prevent the dischargedterial frombeing scattered beyond the mouth'ot? 55 portion 4 (Fig. 5,),f'c1osingone-end of the cross a glassor other receptacle positioned under thespout.

h with this mechanism, for informing the user that member and theagitator another. I

' (11) A simple mechanism for manually actuating the dispensing member,the spout'sealing in timed relation to one (14)An effective housing-forthe lesseasily cleaned parts of the mechanism, andan arrangementpermitting aunitary manual detachment of this housing and of the partsenclosed byit for acoess to the dispensing member. l .T I

(15) A mounting of the dispensing member which enables thistobe manuallyremoved when the mechanism housing has been detached, so as to permit, acomplete cleaning ofthe passage portions through which the materialmoves.

:Illustrativeof a dispenser including all of these features, theaccompanying drawingsshow an embodiment ofmy. invention designedforhouseholduse the dispensing of powdered coffee direct from the can' inwhich the coffee is sold,-, which embodimentalso includes a standsupporting the dispenser proper. In these drawings, Fig 1 is ,a frontelevation of this dispenser and of a material receptacle of a customarycan type 1 5 of Fig; 1.

' attached to it, partially in central vertical sectiona w 7 Fig. 2 isafragmentary rear, elevation of the 1m '3 3'or Fig. 1 and lookingdownwards.

,v-Fig, G -isa vertical sectionalong the line 6-5 of Fig 5, taken whenthe actuating member has been moved ment. 1

the endf'of thedispnsin'gmovement e ne actu amngmember.

. 'Infth'e. illustrated my dispenser includes abody which has an uprightbore and which also has a'ho riz ontal cylindrical crossbore 1 (Fig. 6)ex'tending'acrossthe axis of this bore to c'on'nectth hereof the lowerportion of the body (in the form of a spout 2) with an upwardly. flaringhopper"'3,"the' body having a front wall bore 1. Extending .la'terallyfrom .the flaring hopper 3is an arm'5 through which a riser stemfionia'stand base '7 extends, this stem being clamped'to thej' arm byathumb+screwf8 at a suitable height abovethe'stand base '7 to permit a.-tumbler9 (or othermaterial-receiving receptacle) .to be slid under thespout 2with suflicient clearance to permit a spout closing gate 3 toswing freely abovesthe tumbler.

The upper endof the; hopper 3 leads (to a top portion ofrthe. body whichincludes an inner and upright tubularzportion 10 formed for tightlyfitting into the usual cylindrical flange 11in the 9 invertedwithrespect to the dispenser- This o 5 2A: f a ma e a ic v n the c n body,top portion also includes an annular-stop shoulder 13 for engagementbythe' adjacent portion of the top 12 "of this .can when the can i ji[assess rs ev t islq a i a i add ti n the hopper.

. the pinion shaft 22 in alining these ..Fig. 4 is a vertical sectiontaken through the r linechanism housing along the line 4--4 of Fig. 3.

" Rig-5 is a. vertical section taken along the line m me name of itsdispensing move: w l m The ear28isfastened'(asb the in 29 ofFi s. Fi '1is a section similar tb Fig; 6 but taken at g y p g cap-like metalcover15. I

Thus arranged, the .standsa'nd body assembly can be bodily inverted soas toinsert the hopper mouth flange tightly in thetop flange 11,

after which the resulting assemblage is turned upright so that" materialfrom the caniiows into per top to afford a'supplemental seal forexclud-- Then thecover 15 is slipped loosely f over the can tightly uponthe riser 14 of the hop- .ing air both frornthe can and from the hopper.

Disposed within the'cross-bore 1 and rotatably ripheral surfaoeinterrupted by a normally upwardly facing pocket 17 of a capacitycorresponding to the amountofmaterial'which is tofbe screw 19fwhich isthreadedfinto thecross-boreclosing'hopper member portion .4. In therearwardhub' 20 the bore includes a portion, 21 of square (or. othernon-circular section)- fitting the inner end of a pinion shaft '22 whichis'journaled in backs 23 and 24 of both .of two shallow cap.- like partsof amechanismhousing. These two fitting the portions of thiscross-bore-between the spout 2and the hopper 3 isa generallycylindricaldispensing member lfiwhich has its pcdially inner portionformed to afford a hub having housing parts "have their mouth endsabutting against each" other (as shown in Figs. 3 and .5) v o and'arefastened to each other by a screw 25 horizontal section taken along the(Figs. 3 and 4);, which screw also cooperates with with each other. i IT T.

, Disposed within this two-part mechanismhousing and fast upon thepinion} shaft 22 is a pinion 2'! meshing withasegmental gear 28 which ishere shown (Fig. 4)-as hollow so that the screw mouth ends 25 connectingthe two partsof the mechanism housing .canextend freely, through thisgear.

Fig. 3.

' The rear 30A of this gear shaftnonfrotatably fitsa cross-bore in oneend of an'actuat ing lever 31 which 'is'clamped to thegear'shaft' bya'screw 32. Fastened totheforwardly-projecting portion of thegearshaft30 adjacent to; the .forwa'rd 'cap-like part 23 of themechanism housing (as by a' pin-.33) is the inner end of amechanism-retracting spring 34 whioh is spiraled r aroundthis shaft andinterlocked at its ,other'end' with a pin: 35 socketedlin the forwardhousing part 23, this. spring beinghoused by aspring cover 38 fitting aportion of the housing part 23.

' The forward end portion 30B of the gear shaft likewise non-'rotatablyfits into across-bore in one endof a gate-actuating arm 36 which'isclamped against the end of the gear shaft by a screw 37..- The arm 36has at its other end aforwardly projecting pin 39 which moves in-a' slotSformed in an upright web 44 forming a fpart 'of a gate40'whichispivoted on a pin 41 projecting forwardly (andparallel to ,theaxis of the gear shaft 22) from the hopper member,

the uprigh'tbore of the body'.

The lower or discharge endsof the spout2 is andwhi'ch gate normally,closes thelower end of.

preferably oblique to the axis-ofthespout and disposed so that the spoutis uite short at the side 2A adjacent to the gate pivoting pin 41 butconsiderablylonger at the diametrically opposite side 2A, the axis ofthe pin 4ldesirably being slightly higher than the shortestportion 2A ofthe The gate-moving pin 39 which projects from the gate-actuating arm-36 is spaced from the gear shaft 22 by a considerablygreater distancethanthe spacing of this shaft from the pin 41 on which the gate ispivoted, so; that a relatively thermore,-I arrange the operativeconnection b6".

that-the gate will be swung entirely outoi alinetween the gate-actuatingarm .36 and the gate so ment, with the bore of the spout before thedispensing member even begins todischarge material into the spout. I I

To securesuch a timed movement of the-gate, I make the slot in the gateweb 44,on1y. slightly wider than the diameter of the arm pin 39 whichextends into this slot, and form this slot (which is generallydesignated asS) of such an S-shaped 'pitchline and of such a length thatits'wall por-.

tions transmit the following operative, effects from the pin 39 on thegate-actuating arm tothe gate:

When the dispenser is idle, as in Fig. 1, the pin 39 is within the upperportion S of the. slot and the retracting spring 34 tendsto rotate thegears'haft (on which the gate-actuating arm v36 is fast) in adirectionwhich is. counter-clockwise.

in Fig. l, therebyalsotendingto swing the arm 36 in the same directionand hence pressing the pin 39 against the right-hand .wall of. thisupper slot portion so as to holdthefgatein its spoutclosing position. Bymaking this upper slot portion sufficiently long so that the .pin 39isstill spaced from the upper end of the slot when the gate is closed, Iemploy the engagementof the gate with the lower end ofthe spout as cam,

means for halting the movement of the entire mechanism in thespring-retracted direction. This clearance between the pin and theupper.slot end also allows'for, a possible compression of a gate-facing43which may be of ,soft' rubber. I

During th'e downward movementof the op- ,erating arm' 31,bothgthisarmlandthe gate-actuating arm 36swing ina clockwise directionin Fig. 1, and the pressure of the pin 39. against the left-hand wall ofthe upper slot portion rocks the gate also in the same direction.However, the upper slot portion S is vrelatively short so that this. pinsoon enters the middle slot portion S which is oblique to the upper slotportion so that the pin engages the Wall of this middle slot portionwhich was at the bottom in Fig. 1, thereby rapidly swinging the gateentirely out of alinement with the bore of the spout. a

I By suitably proportioning the obliquity between the upper andmiddleslot parts I cause the gate to be moved to this extent by the time'theoperating arm 31 reaches the middle of its stroke, as shown in Fig. 6.Then Idispose the lowerslot portion S so that a further movement of, thegateactuating arm in the gate ope'ning direction causesv the pin 39 toenter this lower slot portion and to engage the extremelower end of theslot (as shown in Fig. .7), so that this, engagement of thepin with aslot end halts the dispensing movement of the entire. mechanism in apositioninwhich the measuring, pocket is downwardlydi:

'rected and opens entirely into the spout.

, Moreover, I preferably make the arcuatewidth L (Fig. '7) of each ofthe two opposed side portions ,ofthe cross-bore .1 of the dispenserbody. (which arepartscf a cylindrical surface corresponding closelyto-the cylindrical surface of the dispensing member 16) at least equalto the arcuate width of. the measuring pocket 17.

With these parts thus proportioned, a.,-rotation ofthe dispensing memberfrom its normal position of Fig. 1 to its rnid- -strolre positionof Fig.

6 not only; measures out and segregates anzexact quantity of thematerial fed to that member-by the hopper 3 but also seals thissegregated por tion'of the material both from the hopper. 3 and from thespout 2. Consequently, air canno-tpass upward from the spout through themeasured material to the hopper during the dispensing. operation;

When thedispensinggmember is then rotatedfurther; in the same direction,namely from the position of Fig. 6 to ,that of Fig. 7, the direction ofrotation is such that themeasuringpocket 17 first opens intothe spoutatthe shorter sided edge of the vlatter. However, in the ordinary,manipulation of the dispenser; the rotation of the dispensing member issofast (particularly-whenthe pini0n'27 is of much smaller'radiusthan-the.

segmented-gear28) thatthe momentum, due to this rotational movement willthrow the discharged material toward the longer side ofthe spout.-Consequently, I readilyprevent a scat-v tering of the dispensed materialbeyond-.thef mouth of the tumbler or other; receptacle into whichitis-to be discharged,'-while still provid-gf I ing suflicient clearancebelow thespoutsotha I To avoid' havingpossible lumps of the rnaterialinterfere with the exactnessof the measur s ing of the dispensedquantity, I-al'so' desirablyfp. provide an agitator, and I arrangethisagitator the gate will freely cleargthetumbler."

so that it will be operated in automatic response to the oscillatingmovement of *the dispensing member without complicating thev mechanism;

For this purpose,I form another cross-boreiin .thehopper member aboveandparallel to the cross-bore 1 in which the dispensingmernber rotates,thereby forming two lateral and alined bores 45in opposite wall portionsofthe hopper. 1m 4 one of these bores I firmly socket a stationarybearing 46, and through the other I thread a bearing screw 4'7. Theinner ends of the bearing 46'.

andthe 'sc'rew'47 each have a conical recess, for respectively receivingthe pointed ends of; the shaft 48 which has agitator arms 49 extendingfrom it, these arms being spaced along theshaft and desirably extendingat. right angles to the latter at varying and generallyupwarddirections.

Fastened to and extending downwardly from the agitatorshaft 48 isaweightarm 50 having] a weight 51 fastened to'its lower end; the length vof thearm 50 being such that the weight .51 will extend into the measuringpocket 17 whenthis pocket faces upwardly,,and also such as to per 1 Vmit the weight to be swung out of this pocket when 1 the dispensingmember is rotated. Moreover, the f disposition of the agitator armswithres'pect to theweight arm 50 ispreferably such that the center ofgravity-ofpthe total-agitator: arms is,o fiset.,

from the axis of theweight arm-in the lateral'ifdij rection in. whichthe mouth of" the measuring pocket initially. moves during the.operation of;

the dispenser, thereby causing the weight t6 bear against the other sidewall of the dispensing pocket (as shown in (Fig. I) when the dispenseris idle.

With the agitator thus arranged, 'a rotation of the dispensing membercauses 'the weight-engaging wall 17A of the measuring pocket to swingthe actuator in adirection which is clockwise in 1 *Fig. 1; and as'theweight 51 approaches the op-' 'posite side of the connection of the'hopper to the cross-bore in which the'dispensingmember rotates, theweight is swung'out of the pocket to a position in whichit thereafterrides on the cyv I lind rical exterior of'the dispensing member, as

- erates during both the initial and the..final por-' tions ofeachreciprocation of the operating memshownin Figsifi'and 7. During thereturn movement of t-he dispensing movement, the weight swings back intothe dispensing pocket as soon as that movement is somewhat beyondtheposition I "shown'in Fig. 6, afterwhich gravity will cause the weightto bear against the then rotationally forward side wall of the measuringpocket so as to return the agitator to the position of Fig. 1.

' Thus arranged, theagitator automaticallyop ber 3l. In practice-someof. the agitator arms 49 (which may b e-thin and lightwires) desirablyextend upwardly beyond the hopper memberinto thecan fromwhich thematerial is being dis:

pensed, so that they will also loosen the material within thecan, asshown in the drawings; By providing the conically recessed bearings46'and 47 for respectively receiving'the two pointed ends of the shaft48 and threading one of these (47) into the hopper wall so that it canbe adjusted-as to its distance from-the other bearing, I obtain iZa'sensitive,iiournaling of the shaft-and also-per- Y mit the entireagitator to be inserted as a I into the hopper. 40

With my dispenser thus constructed, it'will be noted from Figs.'2 and 3that the gear andpinion areenclosed by. the housing which. also hasthepinionshaft and the gear shaft journaled i-rQit, and: that theoperating a'rm" 3l as well as the gateeactuating armis fast on this gearshaft. Consequently, the major portionsot the operating mechanism canspeedily be detached as a unit from the hopper member by removing the,two screws 52 which fasten this mechanism-hous-g ing to the hoppermember;

'During the detaching of this unit the'gate moving pin 39 slides outiof.the'gate slot S, so that thegate can then depend freely by gravity; andthe pinion shaft 22 a'lso'slides out of the adjacent hub 20 of thedispensing member, so that the lat;v

, ter, member can be slidout b'y grasping this hub,v

thereby permitting the user to examineand clean the entire bore of. thehopper member and also to clean the measuring pocket. Moreover, a,parthe agitator memberv tobe detached alsoifjthis should be desired, sothat my-entiredispenser can easily and speedily be cleaned, in addit ionto being easily assembled.

" 7 Since the dispenser body, the dispensing mem-i ber, the two-partmechanism-housing, the'seg-V; mentalgear, operating arm, gate-actuatingarm, andthe'unitary pinion and pinion shaft :all can be accurately madeIas'die' castingspmy entire dispenser requires very little machining'in-the manufacture of its'parts. Consequently}, it can be built at arelatively low cost-.whilestill affordinga highly uniform dispenser.And, since-these die castings may be of light alloys, thedispenser orfrom the appended claims. limited to the conjoint .us e of allnovelfeatures also can readily be of s such small total weight as to beeasily inverted for'the needed attaching to a material container; 7 IMoreover, it will be noted from the drawings that my dispensercanreadilybe builtin a'quite compactform and with the parts proportioned so as torequire only a short depressing movementof the operating member even'when this member I is considerably longer'than the radius of thesegmental gear so as to afford added leverage. Consequently, only arather' light touch is:i'required for the dispensing operation,andtheposi tive halting of the -movement eliminates'all'de curacy ofthe-dispensing; 1 v With the dispensing member f'of my appliancedesignedfor rotatably fitting the cross bore of the body, this in itselfmight suffice for journaling pendence on the ,users judgment 1 forithe Ithe dispensing memberj butl preferably employs .the auxiliary"stub-shafts (namely the screw'l9' and a part of the pinion shaft 22)for this pur pose so that the periphery "of the dispensing member can-beof a diameter exceedingly close to that ofgthe cross-bore in thedispenser body withj out having that member bindin tl 1e;bore. V a ,7However, while I have heretoforedescribed an embodiment of my inventionincluding numerous desirable details of "construction and ,arrange-,

ment, I do not wish to be limited-in'these respects, since many changesmight be made without deiparting either from the spirit of my inventionNor do I wish to be of my. invention; L

I claimas my inventionz' a 1. Afdispenser including a'tubular bodyhaving.

its lower portion formed. to Qafford a discharge spout, a dispensingmember housed by the body and intercepting the borejof' the body, thesaid member being'irnovable for dispensing a ,meas

ured quantity of material i'nflthe spout; a gate movably supported bythe body and normally closing theoutlet end of the said. spout, and a,

mechanism for conj'ointly moving the dispensing memberand the gate, thegate having'a cam slot in a part thereof and the said, mechanismineluding a swinging arm and apinprojecting from the said arm into theslot, the pin'being di'sposed for engagingthe longitudinal walls of theslot'jto move the gate; the slot having ans-shaped pitch linefand beingiso disposed with-reference to the outlet end of thespoutthat anactuation of the mechanism movesthe gate at a higher'rate ofspeed duringthe maid; partgof the opening:

movement of the gate than during the finalportion' of this movement.

2. A dispenser as per'claim 1, in the slot portion in which. the pin: isdisposed whe'n the spout end is closed by the gatepresents a slot endthenfreely spaced fromthe pin, so'a's to allow. for wearonthespout-closing face of the gate.

3. In a dispensena hopper, a dispensing mem 4 her movable-with respectto the hopper and having a pocket normally facing the hopperQarid anagitator including a shaft journaled' the hopper and extendinghorizontally acro's'sthebore of the hopper above the; dispensing memberand pocket of the dispensing member moves when-disat right angles to thedirection in which the pensing material from the hopper, a rigid armfast upon and normally depending from theshaft' into the said pocket andadapted to be moved by engagement with-a wall'of 'thepocket so as 'tomove the said shaft "rotationally, and rigid agitator fingers spacedlongitudinally of and fast with respect to the said shaft and extendingin generally upward directions from the'said shaft.

4. In a dispenser, a hopper, dispensing member andagitator assembly asper claim 3, in which the shaft is fast with respeotto the said arm,including two relatively adjustable bearings respectively mounted inoppositefside portions of the hopper, the shaft having its opposite endsrespectively journaled in' the said bearings.

5. A dispenser for co-mminuted materials com- I inwardly from theopposite side of the body 00- axial with the cross-bore and having oneend of the dispensing member journ'aled thereomand also including asecond housing detachably fastened to the body; and amechanismincludinga shaft journaled in the second housing and coaxial with thecross-bore, the last named shaftbeing interlocked with the other end ofthe dispensing member, and the said shafts cooperatmg to journal thedispensing member independently of the rotatable interfitting of thedispensing member with the cross-bore. v

6. A dispense'r for co'mminuted material, comprising an upright tubularbody for direct attachment in sealing relation to the mouth of aninverted material eontainer which has an end opening bordered by anannular end portion and also by an inwardly directed tubular flange, the

body having a cross-bore intercepting the bore of its tubular formationa dispensing member disposed within the said cross-bore and movable fortransferring a measured quantity of material from the upper portion ofthe body to a, lower portion thereof; and a cover for housingthe'container; the upper end of the body including a tubular portionsnugly fitting the said flange of the container, and a relativelylowerand larger diametered upright tubular portion upon the upper end ofwhich the annular end portion of the container seats and which tubularportion fits slidably into the mouth of the cover.

7. A dispenser for comminuted materials, comprising a body member havinga normally upright bore intercepted by a cross-bore, a dispensing memberrotatably fitting the cross-bore and having a normally upwardly facingpocket'therew in, a gate member pivoted to the body and nor--, mallyclosing the lower end of the upright bore,

an oscillatable actuator, anda'mechanism connecting the actuator withboth' of the said members'wherebya movement of the actuator in onedirection simultaneously rotates the dispensing member to a position inwhich the said pocket faces downwardly, and swings the gateto a positionin which no part of the gate underhangs the lower end of the uprightbore; the part of the said upright bore below the dispensing memberhaving its lowerend oblique to thenaxis of that bore, and the mechanismbeing arranged for mo'ving the dispensing member in such a directionduring the dispensing operation that the pocket of this member opensfirst into the lastnamedbore portion at the same side of that boreportion with the said highest portion [of the lower end,

whereby the mcmentum'impartedto the materialin the said pocket by arapid rotation of thedispensing member will discharge the contents ofthe pockettoward the highest side of'the said lowerend of the uprightbore. 1 j

LEE B. GREEN.

